Wednesday, January 10, 2007

Ken Gurnick's article at dodgers.com today puts James Loney firmly as the backup for Nomar Garciaparra at first base, as Nomar will almost certainly be the starter at first. Loney has incredible potential, who in 48 games last year batted .284, slugged .559, and had four homers and 18 RBI. Loney also went 3-for-4 in the playoffs. Though it is likely that he'll see some playing time with Nomar ahead of him, it is a bit depressing that, given the uncertainty over at the other corner infield position, there aren't other options available.

Nomar is deserving of a starting role, no doubt. But I was hoping that Grady Little would at least be open to Nomar playing third if Wilson Betemit struggled and prospect Andy LaRoche (another Dodger with lots of potential) wasn't ready yet. The downside of that, though, is that Nomar at third would leave him open to more injuries.

So it looks like, for now, Loney is the odd man out. We'll see how spring training goes.